First Impressions
by Pencilwalla
Summary: Threeshot. AU. KK. There is nothing quite like walking into an office for a business meeting with your best friend and being throughly kissed by an unknown woman. Especially if you're the unknown woman.
1. Part I: Kaoru

**First Impressions**

In retrospect, perhaps it wasn't the best idea to have taken Sano's bet. Although in her defense, she really had needed the inside information. And it was not that big of a deal.

Well, at any rate, she'd made one hell of a first impression.

- - - - -- - - -- - -

As she rode down the narrow side streets of Pearl, Kaoru Kamiya nervously watched the basket in front of her.

Said basket contained food, which she would need to bribe her rooster-headed friend into giving her certain confidential information. Said food was shaking, tipping dangerously toward the street. Every time Kaoru tried to adjust the basket, she would swerve out of control, and be forced to leave it.

'_Crap! Dammit, why couldn't I have bought the basket with the straps that hold your stuff in? No, I had to take the spiffy bike with the brakes that actually worked. Who needs brakes, anyway?'_ She thought irrationally.

The food tipped to the side again, and she desperately let go of the handlebars to push it back into the basket.

With a loud crash that Kaoru hoped no one had heard, she smashed into the side of a building and found herself lying on her back on the pavement.

'_Ow...ow...okay, maybe brakes are slightly more important than I'd previously thought...'_

The food, however, had thankfully survived. Her bike on the other hand...well, it was totaled. Kaoru wasn't sure if bikes could actually be totaled, since generally the term referred to cars, but at this instant she felt like it applied.

The frame of the bike had split in half, and one of the wheels was nastily bent at an angle Kaoru was certain it hadn't been designed for. There was also a broken handle bar. She groaned at her misfortune-she was going to be late for lunch, and Sano would never let her forget it- she scooped up her basket of food and kicked the bike into an unobtrusive corner. Hopefully it would still be there when she returned.

It took a while on foot, but Kaoru was close enough to Sano's consulting firm that she made it there only ten minutes late.

'_Okay, maybe Sano will be mysteriously missing and no one will ever know I'm late.'_

"Oh, you. Mr. Sagara is waiting for you upstairs in his office." Sano's evil, blonde, and British secretary, a small-time actress whose indiscretions had smashed her career, somehow managed to convey the idea that she didn't think Kaoru was far beneath her despite the way she stuck her nose up in the air.

'_Rats. I forgot about Jane, the secretary from hell...stupid woman always acts like she's so great just because she's prettier then me..'_

Kaoru hefted the basket up a little higher up on her shoulder and hurried up the stairs toward Sano's office.

"Jou-chan!" She heard her friend call from his office. "Did you bring the food?"

'_Typical Sano...always hungry and never spending a dime, despite his successful career...' _

"I've got the food, Sano, but you're going to have to pay up if you want it!" She called teasingly.

She plopped the basket down on his wide, oak desk and threw herself down into a plush armchair.

"You owe me twenty bucks for lunch, Sano."

"What? You won't give a friend lunch once in a while?"

"Once in a while, Sano? If you actually paid me all the cash you owed me, I'd be rich enough to afford this lunch."

"Alright, alright!" Sano exclaimed, running his hands through his spiky brown afro. "I'll pay you later."

"Right. When hell freezes over, I'll expect it."

"That hurts, Jou-chan." Sano said in a mock hurt voice.

"On a more serious note, Sano, have you talked to Roma recently?" Roma was Kaoru's boss, a hysterically incompetent woman who's crying fits were legendary in the fashion industry. Roma was prone to sporadic purging of her employees, and Kaoru knew she had lasted longer than any other employee in her position. Roma had been oddly quiet lately when Kaoru discussed her raise, and she wondered if Roma planned to fire her.

"Jou-chan, are you asking me to divulge confidential information?" Sano asked slyly. She could tell that he was thinking of all the ways this could work out to his advantage, and she hurried to head him off.

"No, I'm asking for your opinion on the state of my employment. What information your analysis is based off of is no interest to me." Kaoru said. She wasn't actually sure if this made rational sense, but she figured Sano wouldn't notice anyways.

"Well, I could provide you with said analysis...for a price. See, I've made this bet and-"

"I will not be used to fulfill your bets, Sano. They never work out in your favor anyways."

"So you don't want my incredibly important and secret information?" Sano questioned.

Kaoru was sunk. She could take the bet and get the information, but she'd definitely end up humiliating herself. Or she could spare her pride...and end up jobless.

'_Pride or job...pride is vital to my emotional well-being...job is necessary in order for me to eat...social well-being...food...social-wellbeing...food...yeah, food is more important.'_

"Okay, Sano. I'll bite. What's this bet you want me to take on?" She cringed, waiting for the pronouncement that was certain to spell her doom.

It was not as bad as she'd feared- it was far, far worse.

"You want me to what?" Kaoru managed after several minutes of shocked silence, gasps, and thrown paperweights.

Sano rubbed his bruised head with a sigh. "Kiss whatever poor soul walks into this office next. It's not that bad, Jou-chan! Remember that one bet Misao took?"

Kaoru held up a hand to cut him off. She really didn't want to discuss the famous bet Misao had taken, referred to in her presence as the 'incident'. Said incident had involved whipped cream, handcuffs, and coquettish whispering, and Misao had been severely traumatized by whatever had gone on in that closet.

And coming from Misao that really meant something.

"Don't remind me- do you want to subject some other poor soul to the traumatization Misao and her victim endured?"

"You can't be that bad of a kisser, Jou-chan- and there aren't any handcuffs involved!"

"Umm...Mr. Sagara?" Jane poked her head through the doorway, bug eyed and blushing. Obviously she had heard the last part of their conversation.

'_Great. Well, it'll stop Jane from hitting on Sano, which in turn will keep Megumi happy...which in turn will stop her from 'helping' me shop...'_

"Oh. Jane. What is it?" Sano had the good grace to look embarrassed as he turned toward his secretary.

"Mr. Himura is here early. Do you want me to let him up?"

"Mr. Himura...oh, right. Kenshin's here early? Go ahead, send him on up."

Jane hurried off, probably glad to be away from the happenings in her employer's office.

"Well, Jou-chan? You takin' this bet?"

Kaoru considered. If she took this bet, she'd end up kissing one of Sano's awful celebrity clients and possibly sued. If she didn't, she'd end up branded a coward and Megumi and Misao would double their efforts to manage her love life.

'_Probable lawsuit or Misao setting me up?'_

Kaoru shuddered. That was a hard choice. Lawsuits it was.

"You're on. How much am I getting paid?"

"Paid? I'm giving you information!"

"Sano, considering the chances of whoever I kiss suing me for harassment, I think I deserve a little donation for my lawyer fees."

"I can guarantee whoever you kiss won't sue. Today's my off day- The only person I'm expecting is my consultant."

"Even worse. How much?"

"Jou-chan! What makes you think I have money?"

Kaoru stared levelly at him. She casually picked up one of Sano's pens. It was gold plated and had a ruby set on the end. She gave him a pointed glance.

"It was a gift!" Sano protested, knowing this battle was lost.

"What kind of client gives gold-plated pens as a gift? A rich one. Pay up."

"All right, all right. Fifty bucks."

"Higher."

"Jou-chan! Come on!"

"You want me to compromise my reputation; you gotta be willing to pay up, Rooster-head."

"Fine, fine. Thousand bucks."

"Sano, are you accidentally dealing drugs again?"

'_How do you accidentally deal drugs anyways?'_

"No! I had a lucky night at poker."

"Cash?"

"Yeah, yeah." Sano pouted, clearly upset at this loss.

"Done." She sat back in her chair, smirking at Sano. He grumbled under his breath about raccoons who cheated people out of their money as he dug into their lunch.

Kaoru was far too nervous to eat. While logically, it made sense to avoid dating Misao's friends at any cost, she was still worried about kissing some random stranger. Hopefully whoever she jumped would take it well. And be cute.

Someone knocked on the door. Kaoru jerked upright and knocked her chair over backwards. There was a loud crash as her head hit the ground.

"Ow..." She dragged herself upright.

"Sano?" She heard a voice from outside the door. Sano grinned at her and she made a mental note to hurt him later. He went to open the door.

"Kenshin! You're here early. I thought you said your...business wouldn't be over for a while.

"Funny thing, that. The guy I was supposed meet wired over the money, and died three minutes after. Arsenic poisoning. Weird, isn't it?" From the way the two were smiling and joking, Kaoru had the impression that the two were friends, and that Kenshin was probably joking. Still she could see a wicked hint to his smile that made her wonder.

'Great. I'm going to end up kissing a homicidal maniac. I am going to kill Sano...'

"Ahem." Sano coughed, moving back and giving a look. She sighed and moved forward.

"I'm Kaoru Kamiya." She offered him her hand. "I don't think Sano has the manners to introduce us, so..?"

"Kenshin Himura." He barely had time to give her his name before she grabbed his collar and kissed him.

'_Oh, crap..'_

**Here's Part I. Umm...this was a plot bunny that sprung after too much time reading AU fanfics. I blame the chickens; it is their entire fault. Please, please review; if it sucks, I'd like to improve. Part II will probably Kenshin's point of view, and then Part III will be the end. This was originally designed for DA, but...umm...yeah. **

**Chickentyrant5, signing off. And the chickens say thanks for reading all this nonsense.**


	2. Part II: Kenshin

**Thanks for all the feedback. I love it!**

_First Impressions_

_Part II_

The incident had been strange, and unexpected, and he'd thrashed Sano later. That didn't change the fact she'd been a good kisser.

-- - - -- - - - --- - --

As he left the office, he couldn't help but be satisfied with his work.

Working as the head of an underground police force that managed the underworld of nonhumans had its perks. Being able to manipulate the government with the snap of a finger was one. Being able to call yourself a consultant and charge people absurd amounts of money was another. And knowing that if someone really irritated you, it didn't matter because most of them were bound to die soon anyway was a third.

Kenshin was currently enjoying the last of these benefits. After spending several agonizing weeks trying to not violently decapitate John Descart, the head of an illustrious pharmaceutical company and a thriving illegal drug empire, he was glad to be out of the building.

He had chosen to handle John Descart himself because of the skilled assassins Descart had hired to eliminate anyone who irritated him, or he suspected of trying to kill him. And Kenshin was fairly certain that extremely long-lived demonic shadow assassins made that list.

'_It doesn't matter anyways...Descart should have done a background check on those two, or he would have realized they were undercover agents for Saitou's organization...which, despite our long-running feud, isn't going to help kill me for a man like Descart.'_

He laughed softly. Descart really had been stupid. Otherwise he wouldn't have hired an assassin to do consultant work for him.

Looking around, he realized he had made his way to the celebrity section of the business district. He often wandered around the city thinking, and he had a tendency to wander exactly where he needed to be.

'_That's right, I'm supposed to have to meet Sano for a late lunch in have an hour...I might as well go over early.'_

He decided to pick up some food, since he was sure he would end up paying for it anyways.

'_I still have leftovers. If Sano complains, I'll just remind him he owes me money...'_

Noting a police car parked outside the building, Kenshin rapped on the window.

"Saitou. It's me."

The window rolled down, revealed a narrow-eyed police officer with two long bangs on either side of his face. It was said that it took an hour every morning for Goro Fujita, alias Hajime Saitou, to arrange these bands perfectly. Never in his presence, of course; that was inviting death by Gatotsu.

"Battousai. What do you want?"

"Descart is dead. What about Makoto?"

"Makoto is currently hiding in a luxury hotel to the north of here. My spies have informed me that he spends most of his time with an unknown woman in the hot springs." Saitou said disapprovingly.

"The unknown woman is named Yumi. She's Makoto's girlfriend, and her file is n your apartment already. Get back to me once you've gone through it." Kenshin turned and left; he knew that Saitou's organization was efficient to a fault. Everything would be handled, and he would have an even more detailed report on his desk tomorrow.

Unfortunately, it would also be snarky, because Saitou would never let Kenshin get away with mistakes. Still, they had to cooperate; certain information was generally missed by Saitou's operatives. Kenshin dealt with their persona lives, and their minds. This information, to him, was worth more then any amount of data. Data told what a person did. Being able to see into someone's head allowed you to see who he was.

And that in turn led to long, intricate plots that succeeded because Kenshin could predict what they would do with uncanny accuracy. It was one of the few reasons Saitou still cooperated with Kenshin.

That and the fact Kenshin dealt far better with other people then Saitou did.

'_If it wasn't for my help, Saitou would have no informants. They'd rather kill themselves and die nobly then deal with him.'_

His phone rang, and Kenshin idly wondered if there was some sort of conspiracy to prevent him from arriving early at Sano's office. If this phone call was from Shishio, he was definitely going to have to consider the possibility.

The caller ID told him the call was from Shishou. He relaxed. 'I doubt anyone could steal Shishou's cell phone.'

"Hello."

"Idiot. Where are you?"

"I'm trying to get to my car, so I can get the leftovers out of the trunk. But it seems to be difficult."

"Most shadow assassins can open a trunk, idiot."

"First, Saitou, now you. You're assuming I can get to my car unhindered. Why did you call?"

"Descart is dead."

"I know, Shishou-I killed him."

"Did you get the information, idiot?"

"No, Shishou. I killed him just because he annoyed me."

"Idiot. Get me those files."

"If you left your hut more than once a month you'd already have them." Kenshin mumbled.

"Quiet, idiot." Kenshin heard his teacher hang up and turned his cell phone off. Anyone who really needed him could call his emergency phone anyways.

After retrieving a cooler full of leftover pasta salad and soup, Kenshin finally made it into the lobby.

"Mr. Himura. You're early today." Jane said disapprovingly, twirling a lock of blonde hair around one finger.

'_Why Sano hired this, woman, I will never understand. The only work I've ever seen her do is go and tell him he has visitors. Does she do anything else, or did he hire her for her looks? Knowing Sano, it's the latter...I wonder if Megumi knows. Which begs the question of how he's still alive...'_

While he pondered the terms of Jane's employment, Jane went upstairs and rushed back down, looking flustered and disheveled.

'_What was she doing up there?'_

"Um...Mr. Sagara will see you now. You can leave the cooler in the break room." She pointed to a door behind her.

The break room turned out to be a lounge with a kitchenette corner and several squashy chairs. There was a very shiny fridge in one corner. In fact, all the metal in the room was shiny.

'_Maybe she's actually a maid. And she spends her time polishing the appliances.'_

In the fridge, Kenshin found beer and a few moldy apples. There was also a deli salad labeled Jane, presumable to stop Sano from accidentally eating it.

As he knocked on the enormous office door, Kenshin heard voices.

"Ow..." Kenshin was surprised. It was a woman' s voice, and not Megumi's. Sano was off today, so it wasn't a client. Had he invited someone else to lunch?

'_Oh God, he had better not be trying to set me up again...'_ Memories of the last time Sano had sent him on a date flashed through his mind.

Shaista Von Du was a model. She was also vapid, shallow, and unbearably feminine. And she had been convinced after one date that he'd been madly in love with her.

It had been a disaster from then on-Kenshin had eventually been forced to take out a restraining order, and he had had a talk with Shaista.

He did feel bad about making her cry, but it had taken care of her delusions. And he'd been left in relative peace since then.

Except, of course, for that one time when Jane had tried to hit on him. But he'd wormed his way out of that situation. There was always the possibility that Sano had simply invited two people at different times to bring him lunch to feed his bottomless pit of a stomach. His coming early had probably just screwed with his plans.

"Sano?"

The door opened. His friend stood in front of him.

"Kenshin! You're early. I thought your...business wouldn't be over for a while." Sano said.

Kenshin glanced discretely behind Sano and saw a dark-haired girl standing in the office. She was trying not to look at him nervously.

'_That must be the girl I heard. Who is that? I've definitely seen her before...'_

"Funny thing, that. The guy I was supposed meet wired over the money, and died three minutes after. Arsenic poisoning. Weird, isn't it?" Kenshin smirked at the thought of Descart. He loved his job. Yes, there were minor problems like the fact people kept trying to kill him, and the reams of paperwork, but it paid well, and there was always the satisfaction of ridding the world of morons.

"Ahem." Sano coughed, turning to stare at the girl.

'Why do I feel like this is some kind of conspiracy?'

The girl came over to him. Her eyes, he noted, were a vivid blue. He had seen her somewhere, but not in person.

"I'm Kaoru Kamiya." She sounded nervous.

'_Kaoru. Sano's friend...that's right, Sano's talked about her...which means he's definitely not setting me up, Sano never introduces me to his friends...for good reason...'_

"I don't think Sano has the manners to introduce us, so...?" She was holding out her hand to him.

"Kenshin Himura."

He was about to grab her hand when she moved.

He felt a hand yank on his collar and then she kissed him-

'Definitely a conspiracy.'

- - - - -

**Against all odds, Kenshin makes it in time...**

**So this is Part II. Hopefully Part III will be a decent length, these are way too short. It bothers me...**

**Please review! All the feedback makes me write faster!**


	3. Part III: A Bet And A Couple Lawsuits

_First Impressions_

_Part III_

They broke apart, panting.

There was a long silence as the two stared at each other.

Kaoru looked carefully at the man she'd just kissed. She'd been too nervous to look at him before, but now she noticed his hair was long and red, and his eyes were a hard amber color. She also noticed his disheveled hair was at odds with his neat clothes, then she felt the hair tie tangled in her fingers and blushed. Somehow or another she'd managed to mess up his hair while kissing him.

Kenshin stared openly at her. She seemed dazed. It wasn't like him to stare noticeably, but he figured he had a good excuse to be a little shocked. He'd only seen this girl in photographs of Sano's and heard of her in passing. He was reasonably sure they'd never exchanged a word before today.

"What just happened?" He asked bluntly, looking from Kaoru to an openmouthed Sano to Kaoru again. _'She's very pretty...if she hadn't just jumped on me, I would probably have been interested...'_

Kenshin smirked at her suddenly. _'As it is, now I'm fascinated...most people avoid relations with people who work outside the law...'_

Kaoru jumped, surprised at the sudden change in mood from Kenshin. _'I can't even stand up straight without leaning on him...God, I cannot believe I just did that...'_ She dragged herself away from him, and she felt his hands linger on her waist before releasing her. She was so weak-kneed from the combination of shock and horror at what she'd just done that she had to lean on Sano's desk. Kaoru stared right into his wide eyes.

"Pay up." She managed, sitting down on the desk.

"Wha?" Sano was clearly still trying to process the fact that his man-hating adopted sister had just made out with his best friend. "Uh...yeah, Jou-chan, about the money..."

"Don't tell me. You were lying?" Kaoru asked sharply. Anger curled beneath her skin, giving her strength. "Fine. Call whoever you made the bet with, and collect. You can pay me from there."

Sano gulped. "Umm...sure. I'll do that later..." he flinched under Kaoru's glare. "Okay, okay, I'll call!" He picked the phone and dialed a familiar number.

Kenshin leaned over Kaoru's shoulder. "Why are you calling Megumi's cell phone?"

"Uh...I made the bet with her. And Misao. Hi, fox...yeah it's me...well, no...okay." Sano pressed the speaker phone button. "Yeah, she did it."

"GET OUT!" Misao's hyperactive voice shot out of the speaker. "Kaoru! I can't believe you did that! Oh my god!"

"Calm down, Misao." Megumi's calm voice joined Misao's. "Well, Sano, I can't believe I'm saying this, but you won. Kaoru, what poor soul did you end up inflicting your presence upon?"

"Hey! I take offense at that!" Kaoru said.

"I can assure you it was hardly an affliction. You know, Sano, if I knew this was what happened to people who came early to meetings with you, I'd be early more often." Kenshin commented dryly. Karu turned to see him behind her and nearly fell backwards of the desk. In fact, she would have if Kenshin hadn't grabbed her arm.

"Kenshin? I didn't know you were going to show up...I guess that means Sano won both bets...sigh..." Misao sounded so depressed at this that Kaoru had to laugh. He friend really was overdramatic.

"What was the other bet?" Kenshin asked, moving around Kaoru and leaning over the phone.

"Oh, I bet Sano a hundred bucks Kaoru would get slapped with a harassment suit. You're not going to sue her, are you?"

"Hardly." Kenshin laughed. "At any rate, we have to have lunch, so if you two don't mind..." he hung up the phone. Then he turned to give Sano a Look. This was a look generally reserved for people who tried to kill him for stupid reasons, but Kenshin felt it applied here.

Sano gulped again. This was not his day.

"Sanosuke Sagara, I thought we agreed you would never, ever try to set me up again?" Kenshin asked angrily. "Did you forget the Shaista incident?"

"How was I supposed to know she was nuts?"

"You mean the fact she couldn't get through one sentence without saying the word 'like' and giggling wasn't enough of a sign that it wouldn't work out?"

"How was I supposed to know about your taste in girls?"

Kenshin glared at him. "You didn't know I hate stupid people? I've made a career out of their removal and you couldn't' figure that out?"

Kaoru watched this exchange with surprise. Kenshin had seemed rather calm before. Now he was being a jerk about this whole thing. And who was Shaista? _'The only Shaista I know is that model...but I don't think he and I travel in the same social circles, but Sano knows her..'_

"Um, excuse me, but what the heck are you two taking about? Are you talking about Shaista Von Du?" Kaoru asked. When they both turned to stare at her, she flinched; this must be what it was like to get in a fight between two tigers. Or a tiger and a rooster. She laughed inwardly at the image of a giant rooster trying to kill a tiger.

"That's right. You know her?" Kenshin asked curiously. He didn't know what Kaoru did for a living, so it was possible that she'd met Shaista through her job. Or they were friends. Kenshin silently prayed it wasn't the latter; any more contact with Shaista Von Du and he'd be forced to strangle her to keep his sanity.

"I work as a photographer/assistant for RK photo. I'm in charge of you, know liasoning with the models and agents, and then taking their pictures. You dated Shaista?" Kaoru felt bad for Kenshin if he had; Shaista's conversation left much to be desired, as it dealt entirely with the fascinating subject of Shaista, Shaista, and...Shaista.

"I went on one date with her. Then I had to get a restraining order." Kenshin admitted. It was the first time Kaoru had seen him show any signs of embarrassment.

"Ah. I feel for you. At east you weren't stuck with her agent." Kaoru told him. "She's a bitch."

"I know." Kenshin said. "She chaperoned our date. Then she called and threatened to sue me for 'emotional trauma'."

Kaoru laughed. "What'd you tell her?"

"That I'd have her charged with being a creepy stalker woman. She decided to bother someone else."

Kaoru laughed and told him about Shaista's latest victim. Before she knew it, she and her 'victim' were having a conversation over lunch. At one point Kenshin left to get the leftovers he'd brought, and Kaoru thought to herself how weirdly this whole affair had turned out. _'The homicidal maniac turned out to be a pretty good kisser...not that I'll admit it to anyone...'_

Downstairs in the break room, Kenshin smiled to himself. _'Definitely a conspiracy...but I don't mind...not that I'll tell Sano that...'_

**And there is Part III. The bad news is that it's really short. The good news is that there will be either a Part IV or another short story set in the same universe. I'm thinking of doing a set of drabble-type things on what happens when they both have to get on with their lives e.g. first date, Kenshin asking Kaoru out, Sano being forgiven, if ever...Part IV will probably be what happens when Kaoru and Kenshin eat the leftovers. Warning: if it gets written, it will contain possible Rooster Pie. **

**Thanks for the feedback, and REVIEW!!**


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